Federal universities; the failure in the system.
I graduated from a federal university in Nigeria and I can tell you that it is a struggle from start to finish. You’re battling a lot of things; the failed system, the frustrated lecturers, bad infrastructure, exploitation and harassment, and a thousand other possible wrongs you can think of. Education is quite expensive in this part of the world so parents opt for government-owned universities because they are relatively cheaper but, it is bait for the evil beneath. Let’s start with every reoccurring academic staff union of universities (ASUU) strike. It’s almost like an annual routine. There’s either a strike or a two weeks warning strike or something goes wrong and students are sent home. This strike could be on for months! If it’s a good year, it could just last for three months and schools are back in session but if it’s a year like 2020, you can be home for about eight months, waiting for the federal government and university staff to reach a compromise so you can get back to school. In the end, students are at the mercy of two bodies that are always at loggerheads.
It took me six years to complete a five-year program in the university not because I failed a course and had to wait an extra year but because I live in a failed system where nothing works. Let’s move a bit from the strike. Give yourself some headache, visit a federal university and check out the living and learning condition of students there. The hostels are a mess, the lecture halls are always packed with students and it’s poorly ventilated. It is typically a world of frustration; the students are, the lecturers are, the administrators are, everyone is. Sometimes, I try to understand why things are being run this way. Do federal universities lack proper funding? Does the government neglect their needs? Are there officials diverting the funds for personal use? I do not have a logical explanation for this. It doesn’t look like a change is happening anytime soon. My heart is only with those getting into the system. May you survive the horror. I did…
